BUMP THEM UP Clarence St. John likes to make points through illustrations. Here’s one of them. Consider that all people are on a 20-point scale with the worst being a -10 and the best being a +10. Wherever you find someone on that scale, you can do them a great service by just bumping them […]
YOU WON’T FALL AWAY FROM LOVE Dallas Willard, a highly respected Christian writer, wrote a classic called Hearing God, which I’ve read several times. I’m mentioning it because of what I’m about to write. I don’t take hearing from God lightly, and I’m definitely not a “thus sayeth the Lord” kind of guy. Willard’s book […]
EBOLA The spread of Ebola is front-page news in most papers I read lately. It’s one more piece of evidence that we live in a fallen world, as if we needed more examples amidst wars and rumors of wars. Romans 8 tells us that the creation itself is in bondage to decay and “groaning as […]
REFLECT ON ME HOLY SPIRIT Reflect on me, Holy Spirit, as I reflect on You. Be a mirror before my soul to show me what is of God and what is of me.
BAD MEDICINE There’s a lake in northern Minnesota called Bad Medicine because it’s spring fed with no inlet or outlet. We Christians are not to be like that lake – listeners only to the melody of the Holy Spirit for our own spiritual nourishment, though that’s part of it. We are to be amplifiers of […]
THE WHOLE ENCHILADA The story of the rich young man is vital for those wanting to be serious Christians. In Mark 10:21, Jesus says, “One thing you lack…Go sell everything you have…then come follow me.” On first glance, it seems to be about selling our material possessions and giving the proceeds to the poor. But […]
MATTHEW 17 For three years the apostles were physically and mentally in the presence of Jesus, and that determined their thoughts and actions. When He left them, they became frightened flounderers. Then came Pentecost. How goes it with you? Have you fallen a few steps behind in your walk with Jesus? Do you need a […]
PROVOKING THE LORD Yesterday morning, I was taking in the beauty of Table Rock Lake in Kimberling City, Missouri, and reading from Jeremiah, when the Holy Spirit highlighted the 7th verse of Chapter 25 in my mind. “You have provoked me with WHAT YOUR HANDS HAVE MADE, and you have brought harm to yourselves.” God’s […]
SAILING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT When my heart is aligned with the heart of God, the Holy Spirit becomes a gentle wind that fills the sails of my little boat and blows me into His living waters. That picture in my imagination brings me great comfort and joy. The Holy Spirit does for me what […]
Put God First Luke recorded in Acts 15, starting with verse 24, a letter the church council in Jerusalem wrote to the Gentiles in Antioch regarding circumcision and the law of Moses. The fourth sentence of the letter contains these words: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you […]